Spring Lay Speaker Training will be held on Saturday, March 1 and Saturday, March 15, 2008, from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm at Trinity United Methodist Church in Orangeburg.  The following courses will be offered:  Local Church Lay Speaker Refresher Course, Basic Course, Our United Methodist Heritage, Introduction to the Book of Discipline, Lay Speakers Lead in Stewardship, and Lay Speakers Lead in Evangelism.  Registration material will be mailed out in January 2008.   

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT AN ANNUAL REPORT MUST BE COMPLETED EACH YEAR BY LAY SPEAKERS.  We have a number of lay speakers who are on inactive status because an Annual Report was not completed for 2006.   Please speak to your pastor and complete an Annual Report.

Certified lay speakers must take an advanced course every three years to remain a certified lay speaker.  There are some courses that can be taken in lieu of an advanced course.  For more information, please contact Gregg Riley.

Ms. Annette Riley from Bethlehem UMC on the Orangeburg Circuit has been recognized as a Lay Speaker Emeritus.  Certified lay speakers who have served faithfully and can no longer serve due to health reasons can be recognized as a Lay Speaker Emeritus.   Sixteen lay speakers have been recognized in the Orangeburg District.

Training in the Basic Course is available for individual churches that have a minimum of eight persons interested. Twelve persons recently completed the Basic Course at Beulah UMC.  Thanks to Sheila Shanklin for teaching this class.  If interested, please contact the District Office or Gregg Riley for additional information.

A refresher course for local church lay speakers is being offered this year.  Local church lay speakers are required to take this five-hour course, Concepts in Leadership I.  An effort is being made to provide the training to as many local church lay speakers as possible this year.  Eight persons from the district have been trained to teach this course.  We expect each local church lay speaker to complete the refresher course by December 2008.  The course will be offered at the Spring 2008 District training at Trinity UMC in Orangeburg and also again in the fall.  In addition to these training opportunities, the course can be taught at local churches/charges that have eight or more local church lay speakers who need the training.     

If you have questions or need additional information on Lay Speaking Ministries in the Orangeburg District, please contact:

   Gregg Riley, Director of Lay Speaking Ministries
PO Box 653, Swansea, SC  29160
(803) 568-2739…Home
(803) 568-1025…Work
(803) 629-6784…Cell
cgriley@ptcsc.net